A place that discusses classic and contemporary horror films as well as horror related topics.

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Carrie (2013)

We Already Know Her Name!!!

Directed by: Kimberly Peirce

Release Date: 2013

Chloe Grace Moretz. Julianne Moore. Judy Greer. Everyone else, who the frak are they? Oh and let's not forget our director, Kimberly Peirce best known for Boys Don't Cry and Stop-Loss. After a TV remake and a sequel, you'd think Hollywood would leave this alone, right? Wrong. Always Wrong.

We know this story. Carrie is girl that no one notices who gets her period for the first time during gym class. We learn (and Carrie) that she can move objects with the power of her mind. Sue Snell, a tormentor that tells Carrie to "plug it up!" by throwing a tampon at her during that incident, feels so guilty she convinces her boyfriend, Tommy to take Carrie to the prom. Meanwhile, Chris, the resident mean girl, doesn't apologize and is banned from attending her own prom. She wants revenge. And ya know the rest with the pig blood and all that.

I wanted to give this movie a chance. Obviously, I'm a much bigger fan of both the film And book version of this material and was not excited about yet Another take on this story. Granted, I did attend Carrie: The Musical performances and thought I wouldn't get sick of the story until I realized, the story (when done well) will always be appealing.

The original seventies version of Carrie had Sissy Spacek, John Travolta, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, and William Katt in the most important roles in the film. The charm of the decade and, I don't know, the innocence that Carrie had and also guilt for running off to attend prom had you rooting for her until the very end. The 2013 version, Carrie was more defiant in a way that would have worked if this was a different film, but this was a film with supernatural elements. Peirce tried to make this campy movie (but also beautifully photographed) into a serious tale about a high school girl with telekinesis. Fail, Peirce, fail. There should have been some room to poke fun at itself since it wasn't new territory.

The effects during the high school scene impressed this gorehound but not enough to revisit the film anytime soon or ever.

Hollywood - there are so Many original stories out there. Stop remaking the same shit! Leave sleeping dogs lie!